Memphis' seemingly insurmountable lead was just 115-110 in the final minute. But as Griz coach Lionel Hollins put it, his team "made enough plays" to begin a three-game home stand with its second consecutive victory in FedExForum.

The Griz have won three straight games overall, and five of their past six.

At this point of the season, with the playoffs still in sight, style points are the least of the Grizzlies' concerns.

"At the end of the day, no one looks at the score. It's just a win," Griz forward Rudy Gay said. "This one was kind of ugly but we did it."

All five Memphis starters scored in double figures with Zach Randolph's 24 points and 11 rebounds leading the way. Gay added 20 points, and the Grizzlies' starting backcourt provided a big lift.

Mayo scored 18 of his 22 points in the second half and Mike Conley chipped in 18.

Their play helped neutralize Knicks' reserve guards Bill Walker and rookie Toney Douglas, who were responsible for getting the Knicks back in the game. Walker tossed in a team-high 21 points and Douglas added 19 as the Knicks began to connect on the wild, quick shots that didn't fall in the first half.

"The game was getting out of hand," Walker said. "We ended up making it a game. I'm too young to know the answers right now but I felt like the effort was there."

Hollins said the Grizzlies' defense deserved credit and blame.

"Unbelievable defense in the first half. Unbelievable defense in the second half," Hollins said. "One was positive. One was negative. I told the guys before the game that defense was going to be the focus. If we defended them and rebounded, we could get what we wanted offensively, and that was true."

The Grizzlies ran a clinic for three quarters.

Memphis shot 55 percent in the first half, and cruised into halftime with a 63-42 advantage. The Knicks tried to overpower the Griz with a big backcourt that featured much taller players in Tracy McGrady and Danilo Gallinari. But Conley and Mayo didn't succumb despite their significant size disadvantage. They kept the Knicks misfiring from the perimeter and darted to the rim on offense.

"They were searching a little bit," Conley said. "We knew there would be a mismatch. But we did a good job of attacking them."

New York shot 36 percent in the first half, and looked finished when Memphis took an 88-59 lead late in the third period. The Grizzlies' advantage was 94-73 when the fourth quarter began.

"And the minute we let our guard down, quit defending and started settling for long jump shots, the game became close," Hollins said.

New York tattooed 39 points on the Griz in the final frame.

"We can't play that way against teams like Denver (tonight's opponent)," Conley said.

When the Griz led 100-83 with a lineup featuring mostly reserves, Hollins came back with all of his starters. Mayo connected on a pair of 3-pointers and Gay scored on a floater in the lane that put the Griz back on cruise control.

Or so it seemed.

The Knicks kept charging.

"I'll take an ugly win over a close loss any day," Mayo said. "Some people may be happy with playing the Lakers close or playing Cleveland close. But I'll take an ugly win over that any day."